Blood Ties
by gruesome-daath
Summary: The passing of the Second Child has left a shadow upon Shinji's soul, but just as he is about to fall into hopelessness, someone unexpected arrives.
1. Chapter 1

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* * *

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**Blood Ties Part 1: Wandering Souls**

By _crimsonwraith_

Version 2: 23/08/04

* * *

_Ghosts are nothing more than memories._

_They haunt us with visions of the path we took in life,  
the pain that we endured,  
the regrets that we have.  
The visions come no more clearly than before we reach the end of our arduous journey  
when we are forced to look back at the path that we chose, forcing to ask ourselves_

_"Did I do the right thing?"_

_If the answer is yes, then the soul would move onto eternity at peace, knowing that  
we have left behind a legacy that will continue long after our names are forgotten._

_ However, if the answer is no, then the soul would wonder the abyss with a chain of guilt  
weighing it down. _

_We are doomed to wonder the world for eternity, hoping that one day we find  
the true importance of our existence, allowing us to ease the pain  
and move on to the next world._

* * *

Shinji felt sick. 

Shrouded beneath a dark mantle of storm clouds, a small group weathered the bitter wind and pouring rain to pay their final respects to a fallen comrade. The procession seemed almost familiar to some, having buried many of their fallen companions in this desolate wasteland.

The voice of an elderly clergyman hummed solemnly over the small congregation, struggling to be heard over the drumming rain and the distant roar of the heavens itself. As with all things, it is hard to see in the dark.

A lesson Shinji had learnt only too well.

Shinji scanned the dreary surroundings, eyeing Misato in the distance. He can see a stream of crystalline flow running down her pale cheeks, chilled by the unforgiving storm. It stung Shinji to watch her cry like this, but this time Shinji couldn't look away from the pain on her face. He felt like crying as well, but strangely, the tears do not come.

He had cried himself dry.

Slowly, his gaze followed the priest's hand forming a small intangible cross in the air. His voice came colder than the night itself. "Ashes to ashes…" hissed the priest, motioning his hand from left to right like an ominous pendulum, before moving it from top and dropping it, "… dust to dust."

Slowly, a single casket slowly descended into the earth. It was small, like that for a child. The coffin was marble, with gold engraved onto the sides, and a single picture framed upon the focal point. It was a girl, with long flowing ochre hair draped tidily over her mouth, concealing a radiant smile. Her eyes seemed to glow a brilliant azure, but felt as if it had lost its warmth.

Then Shinji's eyes turned to the head stone planted just above the hole in the ground.

_Asuka Langley Soryu._

Before he knew it, men had begun to cover the hole with dirt, returning the receptacle to its final destination and everlasting darkness. After three days, the pain of regret pierced through his chest like a hot blade, but the pain was worse now than ever. He knew now that he would never see Asuka again.

The funeral having finished, Shinji watched as NERV personnel began to walk away. Most of them were forced to watch her burial. Apart from himself and Misato, Shinji felt that they were the only ones who knew about her, who cared and lover her. Heaving a deep sigh, Shinji began to move away when he noticed an outline approaching the grave.

By the shape, Shinji concluded the figure to belong to a woman. She knelt before the headstone, placing a single rose stem upon the small garden, while caressing the headstone with her other hand. A dark veil covered her face, only a few locks of red were to be seen. Her lips moved, but spoke too softly for him to hear. Intrigued, the boy slowly approached her from behind, straining to hear her voice above the tempest.

Stopping just behind her, Shinji froze, but not because of the cold chill, but at the sound of her voice. It seemed strangely familiar, and at the same time frightening. Shinji could have sworn he heard Asuka speaking. His eyes glazed over the girl, still caressing the headstone, uncaring for the gale around her, uncaring for the cold gazes of onlookers. She knelt before the headstone, speaking to it as if Asuka was still there, listening to her.

"I can't believe you're gone," she whispered to the stone carving, "You promised that you would be strong. You promised that you would wait for me." She suddenly fell silent as tears welled behind her veil, falling silently upon the grave.

Suddenly, a hand fell upon her shoulder, prompting the girl to turn sharply behind her at a young man wearing a dark suit and a contrasting warm smile upon his face. He quickly moved to take his black suit off to place it over her head, covering her from the elements. At this, he smiled. "You'll catch a cold if you stay out in the rain."

For a long while, the girl just knelt there, staring blankly at Shinji from behind her shroud. The awkward moment lasted a few more heartbeats before she finally turned his hand away, pushing herself up to her feet from the mud. "I can take care of myself, _Third Child_."

Third Child, Shinji thought. He could have sworn his mind was playing tricks on him as her voice sounded almost like that of Asuka's. Wide-eyed with curiosity, he turned cautiously to the stranger before him. "Who are you and how did you get passed security?"

Shinji heard the girl scoff, murmuring something beneath her breath. "Section 2 was never really any good, and besides… this is a NERV funeral, is it not?"

The boy's gaze hardened spitefully. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That I _also_ work for NERV," she answered wryly, her voice laced with irony. "NERV may be negligent to the point of gross incompetence, but at least they have the decency to allow relatives to say goodbye to their loved ones."

At this, Shinji stumbled backwards as her words found home in his stomach. "D-did you say relative?" he stammered.

This earned a smirk to curl itself at the corner of her lips. "This isn't twenty-questions, third child. I don't know what Asuka ever saw in you to begin with-"

"You still haven't answered my question," he hissed.

She didn't answer, continuing as if she hadn't heard. "You're slow, third child, but at least you have a spine…" she paused, slowly, the girl's hands rose from her sides, lifting the veil covering her face. At this, Shinji froze with his mouth gaping wide open. Long locks of crimson draped neatly over her should as the girl turned up to look at him, smiling warmly. Standing in front of him was the spitting image of the girl he just saw returned to the earth; a ghost of Asuka.

"My name is Sonya," she said, her eyes flashing a brilliant green rather than a perfect blue as Asuka had. "I'm pleased to have finally met you, third child."

* * *

"Asuka had an identical twin," Misato explained, furiously rubbing her hair with a dry towel. "According to her file, they were separated when their parents got divorced: her mother got Asuka, her father got Sonya. She and her father moved to the research facility at the second branch in the US while Asuka stayed with her mother at the third branch in Berlin." 

Misato paused, throwing the now soaking towel into the distant corner of the bathroom and proceeded to changing out of her soaking black gown to a dry set of clothes. "When Asuka was chosen to become the second candidate for to pilot the Evangelion, naturally, Sonya was immediately regarded as a potential candidate, having the same blood as her sister. But it wasn't that simple."

Inside his room, lying wearily on his bed, Shinji stared up at the ceiling, half listening to Misato's explanation. Her voice came as a muffled tone through the crack under his door. "We found mental instability with her, the same complications that her mother suffered and died from. As soon as we found a capable replacement, we removed her as a potential candidate, pending further testing. But then we lost two pilots, and the dummy plug system…"

Her voice ceased, as if choked from existence. Images of limbs floating in the amber fluid flashed across his eyes. He could still remember their empty smiles. "NERV had no choice but to recall Sonya to active duty as the Second Child. They sent a Neural Link package specially made for her condition, so that she can avoid suffering the same fate as her mother."

And her sister, Shinji added to himself. He could still remember her sitting on the rooftop huddled in a foetal position. He could still remember her cursing him.

_I HATE YOU SHINJI! I HATE EVERYTHING!!!_ Her words rang as clear as the day she said it. He could still feel the edge in her voice. _I'll get you, Third Child._

_Third Child_.

It felt as if Asuka said it, but it wasn't her. It was her sister, Sonya. He can still feel her smile. They were the same as Asuka's. For the briefest of moments, it almost felt as if she was still there with him, smiling back at him.

Suddenly the door swung open. Shinji merely directed his attention towards the silhouette standing by the open doorway. "There's something else I have to tell you about Sonya…" Misato began.

As if on que, Shinji heard the front hiss door open, then shut again as footsteps echoed loudly off the floorboards, a silhouette standing next to Misato's. At this, Shinji quickly levered himself up, his face suddenly paling…

… as if he had seen a ghost.

"S… S-" Shinji spluttered, "Sonya?"

* * *

Elsewhere, an eerie silence hung below the dark unoccupied caverns of Terminal Dogma, broken only by slight pitter patter of footsteps upon the crimson lake. At the focal point stood a white giant whose seven lifeless eyes stared out into the void, as if yearning to be free from its bindings. 

However, several dozen meters below, a young woman stopped, halting on the water just before the giant staring upwards. Her pale albino skin seemed to glow in the presence of the behemoth, as if reacting to its very presence. However, her crimson eyes lingered above, narrowing upon the giant's seven dun orbs.

Rei Ayanami could almost hear a voice running through her mind, imploring her to become one, but with what?

Or rather… with whom?

That was when a loud metallic clink sounded behind her as the massive bulkheads of Heavens Door began to slide open. Her eyes, however, remained upon the giant's face as it remained expressionless, as did Rei.

Gradually, the sound of mechanics halted as the door revealed but a single silhouette standing outside. Rei didn't see a sly smirk creeping across his lis lips.

"Ayanami," he called out, stepping into the light. "Have you forgotten your _true_ purpose?" Gendo Ikari strode staunchly across the steel platform towards the giant of light, where at the end, Rei stood silently, watching the figure close up on her.

At this, Rei merely stared upwards as if searching the giant's face for answer that wasn't there. For a few heartbeats, the girl stood there staring upon the blankness upon the being's face, then ever so slowly, she turns from it, her eyes gazing towards the shadow moving along the steel boardwalk.

From a distance, Gendo sees this and halts in mid-stride, taken aback by a pair of blazing crimson orbs directed straight towards him. His grin fades, his heart freezes, as does his voice. "She called to her children, and they heard her call."

"…"

"She calls to them now, just as she did then…"

"…"

"They will come to her as they have before…"

"…"

"History, once again, repeats itself-"

Suddenly, Rei's crimson orbs narrowed spitefully, her voice came as a dry hiss. "Why have you come?"

At this, Gendo maniacally curls his lips, raising a finger to adjust his lenses slightly. His voice came dryly, yet shrouded with obscurity. "The Second Child has been replaced."

"The second child…" An image of a young girl suddenly came to her mind. Her long flowing hair was crimson in hue, appropriately matching her character. She can still remember a voice full of confidence carrying through the air a sense of pride she can only imagine. Finally, she can remember a pair of cyan eyes staring back at her like a pair of blue flames lighting the darkness around her.

Somehow she remembers all of this.

Except her name.

Gendo senses this, stepping closer upon the edge of the steel walkway. "Asuka Langley Soryu was buried at 2:57 this afternoon. Sonya Langley Soryu is now the designated pilot of Unit-02, the Second Child."

"Soryu. I know that name…" Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened, burning with an eerie scarlet glow. "Where is she?"

Her demand suddenly caught Gendo off guard. She had never demanded anything before, but why now? Why this? Rei's gaze hardened at the lack of response.

"Where is she?"

"She is staying at the Katsuragi residence."

At this, Rei nodded a silent reply and began to walk upon the surface of the LCL to meet Gendo on the solid platform of steel, stopping an arm's length away. For a few heartbeats, the two figures stood in silence, staring deeply into the other's eyes, before Rei began towards the door. A few steps afterwards, Gendo finally broke the silence.

"You wish to see her…"

The girl remained deathly silent, stopping mid-stride at the doorway. "She and I are alike," she said dryly. "She is a replacement…

"…"

"… like me…" With this, she continued down the hallway, letting the door slide close behind her, leaving Gendo alone in the dark with nothing but the Giant of Light to accompany him.

* * *

Why did she have to wear that dress? 

Shinji kept silently to himself, sitting in front of the couch, peering from the corner of his eye towards the girl to his side. There was a cold determination in her deep beryl eyes as she stared blankly at the television, not even slightly interested at the program. The boy decided that she would probably be deep in thought, after all, her sister was only buried today.

"What is it?" she snapped coldly to break the eerie silence between them.

Startled, Shinji jerked back before stammering a hurried response. "N-nothing…"

"You were staring at me," she answered back, her eyes still focusing on the screen. "Is there something you want?"

"N-no."

"Don't lie!" She sighed, shifting her eyes away from the display and turning towards Shinji's eyes. "Let's get one thing straight, third child. I'm going to live around you out of respect for Asuka, but I am not going to tolerate lies, is that understood?"

"Y… ye… yes ma'am-"

"I don't care if you think you'll hurt my feelings," Sonya continued with a flame behind her eyes, "if I ask you a question, you will give me a true answer, is that understood?"

Shinji quickly straightened up, snapping a quick salute. "YES MA'AM!"

At this, Sonya sniggered, slouching back to her seat rest and smirked wryly. "Very well then, third child…" she mused wryly, "Have you ever had impure thoughts of my sister?"

"NO MA'AM!" Shinji answered, gulping nervously.

"Have you ever looked at her in the wrong way, you pervert!"

"N-NO MA'AM!"

"Have you ever kissed Asuka?"

Shinji fell deathly silent, feeling her cold glance upon his throat. Just how was he going to get himself out of this? If he says yes, then she would probably rip his head off for kissing her, but if he said no, then she'd know that he was lying. What she would do, Shinji could only imagine. Gulping nervously, Shinji turned shakily towards the girl with an awkward nod. "Y-yes. I kissed her!" At this, Shinji quickly jerked back in a foetal position, covering his face between his knees. "She asked me to…"

"Hmpf," scoffed Sonya, "and just why in the hell would she ask a pathetic little swine like you to kiss her?"

"I… I- I don't know!" he stammered, "all she said was that she wanted to pass time."

"Pass time?" Sonya echoed, raising a threatening eyebrow. "Do you expect me to believe that Asuka kissed you just to pass time?"

Nodding nervously, Shinji tightened himself into a smaller ball, gritting his teeth for the incoming barrage. "YES!" he screamed. "SHE DARED ME TO! IT'S THE TRUTH!"

For a long while, Shinji just lay there in his ball waiting for his punishment, but nothing came. Nothing, that is, except for the sounds of laughing coming from his side. Slowly, Shinji lifted his head up, finding the girl on the floor clutching her stomach, laughing loudly to herself.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE ACTUALLY DID IT!" she screamed, rolling on her back. "ASUKA REALLY DID IT!"

Upon hearing this, Shinji slowly stood up over the girl, eyeing her with great curiosity. "What?" he said blankly, "What did she do?"

"Kissing to pass time," howled Sony on the floor, "that really does sound like Asuka!"

"It- it does?"

Sonya nodded, her laughter subsiding as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Yeah! She'd always make an excuse for her actions…" she suddenly paused, grinning widely at Shinji. "She always made excuses when she was too embarrassed of the truth. Maybe she did it because I dared her… or maybe she…"

"Sonya!" Shinji whined. "I didn't think she liked it…"

At this, Sonya sighed, falling back into his seat rest. "Just relax Shinji. I'm just playing with you!" Slowly, she rolled to her side, staring at Shinji with her beryl eyes. "Hey third child…"

Shinji blinked, his expression still that of confusion. "W-what?"

"Do you miss her?" she said breathlessly.

For a long while, she waited for an answer as his jaw gaped open but words fail to come out, From this, Sonya knew that there could only be one answer. "Yes," he said feebly, "I miss her."

With this, Sonya pushed herself back up from the seat, brushing her hair crimson hair back over her shoulder. "One last question, third child."

Shinji didn't look up at her. "What is it?"

"Do you see her face…"

"…"

"When you look at me, do you see Asuka staring back at you?"

For the first time, her voice seemed weak, losing the edge that Shinji was becoming all too familiar with, forcing the boy to look up and study her face. For a moment, he froze, noticing her broken expression falling to the ground. Heaving a sigh, Shinji stood up and answered her.

"No."

"No?" she repeated, her eyes darting back to his.

Shinji, for the first time in a long while smiled back at her for this. "Your eyes, they're different. She had eyes, blue, that were so deep that you could lose yourself just by staring."

Afterwards, Shinji closed his eyes, solemnly marching away with his head held confidently high, disappearing into his room and shutting his door with a loud firm bang, leaving one Sonya standing alone in the living room, her breath and heart taken away by the same boy her sister fell for. At this, her gaze hardened in disgust.

I think I'm gonna to be sick…

_

* * *

_

It's quiet now, thought Misato as she lay on her bed, staring at an empty ceiling. It had been a while since she had anything that could truly be called rest, but as the voices died from beyond her door, a calmness descended upon her mind. She had half expected Sonya to have run Shinji into the ground by now, but it seemed that she had clearly underestimated the boy. Shinji was indeed growing up.

I never thought she felt that way about her. Misato would probably have laughed at the very thought a month ago. After all the beatings and humiliation he endured, how could the boy have grown fond of her? Sure they live in the same house and they did work together, but what made the two so close?

Suddenly, her phone began to rang. Rolling to the side of her bed, she retrieved the cordless unit, raised it to her ear and pressed the on switch.

"Yeeelooowww," she slurred wearily into the handset.

A woman's laugh came as a reply from the other end. "It's only 9 and you're drunk already? Either you're drinking more or your years of excess has finally caught up."

Misato almost dropped the handset, her grip still quivering as the voice echoed in her mind. It was unmistakeable. "Ritsuko?"

The scientist's voice managed a scoff on the other end. "Ah, cognitive display. I see that you can still hold your liquor. I'm not surprised, seeing that you drink the bar at level 2 dry each Friday evening."

Misato quickly pushed herself up to a sitting position, her grip tightening around the phone. "Ritsuko, since when were you allowed to use a phone in isolation cell?"

"Ever since they've re-instated me as project co-ordinator?"

Her gaze hardened. "I don't remember authorizing your release, let alone a full re-instatement."

"My my," Ritsuko taunted, "you really are an idiot, aren't you, Major?"

"_What did you say?_"

"Poor Misato, dumb and deaf."

"I don't have time to be insulted by you!" Misato screamed into the speaker, about to flick the switch off when…

"Ikari did it."

Misato paused just in time to avoid killing the switch, curiously returning the phone to her ear. "Commander Ikari released you? But why?"

"Come on, Misato," jeered Ritsuko, "You can't be this stupid."

"Stop treating me like a child and tell me already."

"Very well." Her voice paused as Misato listened to the rustling of metal in the background. She was probably adjusting her glasses. "It seems that NERV has had the foresight of installing a back-up for the Dummy Program in Germany. They want me to keep an eye out on the _Beta _variants"

"_Beta _variant?" Misato echoed hollowly into the speaker. "But that's impossible. I saw you kill all but one."

"Oh," Ritsuko mused, "the one that got away-"

"Are you telling me that there are more of those… Rei clones out there?"

She heard a sigh over the phone. "Yes… and no."

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, there are more clones, but no, they are not Rei. The Germans demanded a German national to be their test subject…"

"GET TO THE POINT!" Misato demanded over the phone.

"I'm sure you already know, Misato. After all…" she paused, grinning at the other end, "…you've taken _another _one into your home…"

Before Misato could manage a response, the line on the other side cut, leaving nothing but hollow beeps to sound of the speaker. Killing the phone, Misato's eyes darted towards the door. "No," she stammered, "it can't be…"

* * *

**To be continued…**

**Next Episode…  
Rise from the Ashes…**

It has been three months since the disaster that nearly wiped out the third Neo Tokyo, but humanity has moved on. The city is slowly rebuilding itself and people are slowly coming back, hoping that the worst has passed them all. But psychological wounds linger, not more-so than in the mind of Shinji Ikari. How can Shinji let go of the memory of Asuka when her face is always staring down upon him?

But as things start to darken, old friends come to visit…

… and old skeletons begin to come out of the closet.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

If you're a S/A fan, don't kill me just yet. Let the story flow for a while. I promise I'm not a simple Asuka killer. In fact, I'm doing this fic because she's my favourite character. Please leave the pairings up until later. I know I will get flamed for this, but again, please be patient.

For those who are thinking that they've seen this before, it's because I'm redoing this. There were a few improvements in this chapter, but I've made a lot of changes in the next three chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

**Blood Ties **

Chapter 2: Rise from the Ashes

_By crimsonwraith_  
Version 2: (24.08.2004)

* * *

_I can still feel you_

_flowing through my veins..._

_...beating in my heart-_

_-haunting my every step._

_I can still feel_

_the warmth of your skin _

_the touch of your lips_

_upon mine_

_Your voice echoes louder still…_

_…long after I said goodbye._

* * *

A deep gasping filled the dark and damp atmosphere. Soon, seething curses was breathed in between gasps, as she hardened her gaze, clutching the sweat soaked sheets in between her fists grinding them. She could still see the final images of a passing dream as it faded from the darkness it came, but it would forever be burned into her mind. Just as her voice still rang in her ears like a message that refused to die. 

"I'm not like you," Sonya hissed to herself, "I'm _**nothing** _like you."

Angrily, Sonya tore herself away from the warmth of her blankets and stormed out the door, leaving behind in the half darkness a trail of torn linen soaked in sweat

And _blood_.

* * *

The cold running water was like an elixir; soothing the burning in her veins. It wasn't just the cold drumming against her skin; but more with the sound. The soft murmurs it made as it fell from the tap, running along her fingers then spiralling into the abyss beyond the sink seemed strangely healing. With this, Sonya stayed this way for a long while, hoping that the calming effects of the water would let her forget the memories of the night. 

But then she noticed that there was light just beyond the hallway coming from the living room. She had not turned them on. Curious, the girl reaches over the tap, twisting the stream from existence before sauntering over, drying her hands with her shirt. Peering over the hallway, the first thing Sonya saw was the screen of a small red laptop and hands moving proficiently over the keys, filling the air with a steady hum of struck keys. As she stepped in to get a better understanding, Sonya saw Shinji stretched out across the floor, his head buried into a science textbook. He probably hasn't even noticed that she had come into the room.

Smiling to herself, she moved silently behind her, peering curiously into the screen. "Mitosis?"

The boy stumbles over himself, startled to find Sonya hovering just behind him. For a second, his mouth gaped open but words failed him. Then finally collecting himself, the boy stammers. "S-Sonya… you're awake?" He paused, studying the tired look on her face. "Um, are you alright?"

She merely sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I couldn't sleep, but I'll be okay." With this, Sonya bent over, taking a better look at the screen. "Hey Shinji, this looks like homework." The boy remained silent, looking back at her blankly. "Why are you doing homework?"

Shinji is slow to reply, raising an enquiring eyebrow. "Haven't you heard?" he began, but the girl could only shake her head. "We're going back to school today… "

"Going back…" Sonya echoed amusingly. "It's odd to see someone actually looking forward to school. You're such an obedient student."

_You're such an obedient student..._

That voice sounded almost like Asuka's when she first said it a few months ago, before things changed for the worst. Before she passed away. They were good times then, and Shinji hoped that only good times followed from here on.

"So..." she began, pushing herself up to her feet, "I bet she made quite an impression on campus. She isn't the kind to lay low and pass things by."

Shinji stifled a giggle, nodding his head in agreement. "I think she lived for attention."

"She _craved_ attention," Sonya clarified, clearly amused.

Shinji smiled serenly, studying the girl in front of her. She was definately different from Asuka. She looked the same, she sounded the same, and to an extent, she even acted the same, but now she was laughing with him, not at his expense.

Then he noticed something across Sonya's brow. It was red, almost like blood. For a second, he thought it could have been his mind playing on her, that it was just the light reflecting off her long silky auburn hair. But it wasn't. The colour was thick and familiar.

_Blood._

Concerned for the girl, Shinji quickly pushed himself up to his feet, stepping closer to Sonya, eyeing the crimson trail on her brow. "Sonya... did you hurt yourself?"

He was met by a vacant glance.

Shinji carefully reached over the girl's face, touching the girl's forehead and bringing it back. The texture was the same, the smell unmistakeable. "You're bleeding Sonya..."

The girl quickly reached over her head, brushing her forehead with an open palm before inspecting it. Streaks of red marked her pale palm, causing the girl to stiffen with shock.

"Sonya, please. What's going on?" Shinji begged, his voice now laced with anxiety for the girl, but still she remained silent, her eyes still upon the crimson on her open palm.

Then a shadow fell into the room as Misato stepped through. The fact that she was awake this early in the morning was astounding, the fact that she was sober and dresed in her uniform was even more surprising. But Shinji couldn't care less, his concern clearly with Sonya.

"It's called hematohidrosis(see author's notes)," Misato began to explain, slowly moving over to the girl's side. Pausing, she slowly grasped the girl's open hand and bent over, staring into her horrified green eyes. "It happens when you become so anxious that the blood vessels around your sweat glands burst, making it look like you're sweating blood."

"But," Shinji stammered, "what could make Sonya so scared? What could you be so frightened of?"

The girl fell deathly silent, but her eyes lifting to meet Misato's. Her trembling mouth moves to speak, but words fail her. She tries to explain, but all that came out were incoherent syllables blurred beyond recognition.

Misato gaze hardened at this. "Sonya," Misato began gravely, tugging on her arm, "we going to be late."

Shinji shot a look to the elder woman. "But Misato!"

"We're going to be late for her preliminary synchronization tests," Misato said. With that, she took Sonya by the hand and led her away. Sonya's eyes remained with Shinji's before it disappeared behind the wooden frames, her eyes still with him with a desperate expression, as if wanting, needing to say something to him, but was too late.

* * *

Light flickered across the screen, reflecting gently upon Misato's auburn orbs. She stole a quick glace to the simulation bodies on the other side of twelve inch thick reinforced plastic. The hand of the closest body moved ever so slightly, but also managed to charm a wide grin across her face. She returned her attention to the image on the glass of a young girl who looked almost too familiar. This time, her plugsuit came in the colour green. On her face was the look of grim determination. 

"So how's she doing. Maya?" she shot over her shoulder to the young Communications Officer busy keying in commands on her console.

The concerned look on her face was less than assuring. "She's barely over the 15 per cent synchronization rate; that's just 2 above the minimum benchmark."

Misato hardened her gaze as she turned angrily toward the image on the glass. "Sonya! What are you doing? Your synch ratio is absolutely appalling"

"I'm _trying_!" Sonya bit back, grimacing painfully.

The Major could only sigh as she returned her attention back to Maya. "So… what's the status with mental contamination?"

The technician paused for a second, then turned to Misato. "There are no signs of contamination. The A-11 neural connect limiter is operating nominally. However, it seems to be affecting her ability to synchronize with Unit-02."

"What do you mean?" Misato asked over her shoulder, moving over Maya's chair to look at the screen.

Her younger counterpart pointed to the sine wave pulsating across the screen. "Synchronization rate and the risk of mental contamination is directly related."

"That means…" a familiar voice added behind the two. Maya and Misato quickly spun around, finding Ritsuko standing behind them, her hair fading to its natural auburn hue. "It means, Misato, that by restricting her exposure to the Eva, you are also limiting her ability to synchronize with it."

A smirk crawled across Misato's lips. "Hmpf," she snorted, "long time, no see, old friend. Now what are you doing here?"

"Why all the hostility all of a sudden Misato?" she slurred back, "I'm just here to oversee that the Second Child can be used when the time calls for it. That were the words of Commander Ikari himself." An awkward silence followed as icy glares were exchanged between the two women. Then, after a few heartbeats, Ritsuko curled the corner of her lips and stepped over Maya's side. "What is the current limit applied by the A-11?"

"Level 5," Maya replied.

"Level 5!" she gasped back, "It's no wonder that she's barely doing better than her sister was at the end." This caused Misato to peer spitefully at her over her shoulder, but Ritsuko ignored it, focusing instead on the task. "Lower the limit to level 3."

The young technician's eyes shot wide open in disbelief. "But ma'am, the Boston Branch has advised us to operate at level 5 at the very least. Any lower and we risk mental contamination and subsequent mental breakdown."

"I can't allow that," Misato cut in, "the children's safety is our top priority."

"Since when did we have a change in policy?"

"Since we only have 3 remaining pilots in our disposal," Misato bit back. "We can't afford to lose another one."

Suddenly, an image on the screen flashed into view as a Sonya stepped in between the two. "Do it!" she screamed. "I can do this Misato. I know I can!" Her voice faded as her eyes lowered from the view screen, leaving a sense of guilt to dwell upon Misato.

After a while she returned to Maya, her voice was hesitant as she gave her final order. "Lower it."

"Excuse me ma'am."

"You heard me, Maya. I said lower the limiter to level 3."

Maya opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't. Not under the piercing gaze of her two superior officers, not after looking at the determining expression on Sonya's face. Sighing to herself a final time, Maya returned her eyes to the screen as she keyed in her final commands. "Lowering A-11 neural connect limiter to level 3." For a while, only silence filled was heard in the control room, only to be broken soon afterwards by a loud, agonizing scream to echo down the steel hallways.

* * *

Elsewhere, a dark stillness hung around the massive room, filled only by a faint crimson light pulsating from the ceiling. A bearded man blankly eyed the diagram on his ceiling, pondering its real implications. He was so immersed in thought that he almost didn't see another man come from behind him. 

… almost. "Fuyutski," he threw over his shoulder, "what have you got for me?"

The elder man smirked at the Gendo's acute sense of awareness. "The results from the tests have returned."

"And?"

He moved to Gendo's side, untucking a manila folder from beneath his arm. "The test subject is a complete failure. She was only able to reach 27% before we began to detect signs of mental contamination. She currently being treated for feedback symptoms."

"Professor," Gendo interrupted, still not taking his gaze away from the crimson illustration, "I do not care for this, and you know it. Now tell me what I need to hear."

_Perceptive,_ Fuyutski thought to himself, his grin widening. "Very well… we will be receiving the remainder of the _beta _variants from Germany as soon as three weeks time. For now, we will have to do with the sample, no matter how incompetent or useless she is."

"A copy is only as good as the original…" Gendo snarled towards the professor. "But it would seem that there is more to this disappointment than meets the eye. For now, we will monitor the subject closely. This has proven both intriguing and worrying, don't you think so, professor?"

"Excuse me sir?"

"We must look into this anomaly, and analyse its implications with regards to our own _alpha _variant."

"Hmpf," scoffed Fuyutski. "You mean Rei?"

This was only answered by silence and a smirk coming across his lips on an otherwise blank face.

* * *

"DAMN IT!" 

The sound of glass shattering resonated against the cold tile walls. Crimson bled along the cracks of a broken mirror in the women's change room as Sonya drew her hand back from the small crater she had punched through it. Her fist throbbed, but it was a different pain from the one she was suffering. She had hurt her pride; she could still remember the emergency crew pulling her out of simulation plug as if she were a helpless girl. But she was helpless and this was what hurt the most.

After a long while, she walked back towards a locker marked with her name. Inside was a green plug suit with orange trimmings. Strange, she thought, it almost reminded her of the stench of blood. She had never grown used to the LCL, men were supposed to breathe gasses, not liquids. Sighing to herself, she dejectedly flung her locker shut with a loud bang, but her eyes suddenly fell upon another locker.

_Asuka Langley Soryu_

"Sister," she thought, walking over to the steel receptacle. It had a massive dent on its surface. Sonya laughed at this. "I know just how you feel." Noticing that there was no lock, Sonya moved curiously over to the lock box and opened it. Inside was a set plug suits, almost identical to her own, except that it was red. It suited her character, Sonya thought as she tried to remember what her sister was like. Faint images of a small redheaded girl came to her mind. She was smiling.

Suddenly, the door to the change rooms creaked open, prompting the girl to glance over her shoulder towards the girl standing there, glaring blankly at her. The girl was like a ghost, her skin eerily pale, her eyes dissonantly crimson. She glided across the tiled floors, stopping just in front of her.

"Asuka," she whispered.

Sonya paused, and then realized that she was sitting in front of Asuka's open locker. Quickly amending her mistake, Sonya shut the locker and grinned awkwardly. "Actually, my name is Sonya. I'm Asuka's sister."

The girl's eyes hardened despite this. "Your eyes… they're green."

This earned her a raised eyebrow. "I said that I'm not Asuka-"

"I know who you are," the girl cut in with a hauntingly dry whisper, "Sonya. You are one of us."

For a moment, Sonya could only stare blankly at the girl before a thought dawned on her. "You must be Rei Ayanami, the First Child, aren't ya?" This was met by a cold silence, leaving an awkward feeling at the pit of her stomach. Forcing herself to step forward, Sonya offered a hand to her comrade. "Let's be friends…"

Rei froze as she saw the girl twitch, her lips curling slightly into a weak smile. "If I am orde…" she paused as something else crossed her mind. "Thank you."

Somehow, she seemed more confused than cold, as if reciting something that she had said to Asuka when _they _had first met. She must know something about her sister. Curiously moving to the side of Rei, Sonya threw a friendly arm over her neck. "So Rei… can I call you Rei?" The girl didn't object, Sonya smiled at this, "I bet you and Asuka didn't get along all that well, eh, Rei?" Again she was silent, but Sonya didn't mind. "Don't worry, I'm not my sister."

Suddenly, the weak smile on her face faded. "But you are…" Rei said in a soft voice. "You are very much like her…"

"…"

"and me…" With this, Rei turned around and walked out the door, leaving Sonya all to herself amidst a room filled with lockers with no names.

* * *

Time is an extraordinary phenomenon: it can seed a specie and wipe it out as if it has never existed. It can raise civilizations, then return them to the dust of their foundations. Only three months ago, Tokyo-3 was nothing but another artificial layer dotting the coast of Japan. Three months had past, and a new city rose above the ashes of the old. Spires rose high into the heavens as if to touch the stars themselves. Such was the resilience of man. But Shinji didn't see it this way. To him, he saw this as man's testament of his eternal arrogance. The past belonged behind him. 

Sighing to himself, Shinji slowly looked back to the front finding two faces glaring intently back at him.

"… can't wait until our next class trip to Okinawa." Touji declared out loudly. "Just two more weeks…"

An anxious sweat drop rolled along Kensuke's brow, turning lazily back to Shinji. "So are you coming along?"

"What?"

"I'm sure the hero who saved mankind from the angel threat deserves to get a break once in a while."

_Angel threat,_ he repeated to himself. The images of the smiling face of Kaworu flashed in his mind, causing him to quiver slightly. He could only smile awkwardly at this. "I have to talk to Misato about this, but I think I'm should be able to go."

"What about Asuka?" Touji added, before being silenced as Hikari's back-fist found the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

Hikari quickly took his place, giving Shinji an inquiring look. "So how's Asuka doing? I hope she's alright to come on this trip."

Shinji found himself speechless. How can he explain what happened to Asuka. Touji and Kensuke, no matter how much they seemed to hate her, really took her in as a friend, but Shinji was more concerned for Hikari. They were best friends How can he tell her that Asuka was dead?

Then there was a knock at the door. It swung open. The teacher paused, stealing a look towards the opening and smiled. "Ah, we've been expecting you. Please come in."

"Thank you," a familiar voice replied. Shinji's eyes shot up, turning sharply towards the door as the girl strode in. Her long red hair trailed behind her as Sonya stopped in front of a paralysed class. "Hi, my name is Sonya. Sonya Langley Soryu, and I'm pleased to meet you all."

* * *

"No way!" Kensuke gasped, adjusting his spectacles as he studied the double in front of sitting opposite to him. "She's _MULTIPLYING!!!_" 

Touji fell to his knees in mock misery. "NOO!!! NO GOD, NOOO!!!"

This earned him another cold knock at the back of his skull, silencing him once more, painfully at that. Hikari managed a weak smile towards Sonya, still taken aback by her likeness with her other friend. "I'm pleased to meet you, Sonya but I was wondering where Asuka is. I haven't seen her in quite some time, and I'm worried for her."

Sonya smiled reassuringly, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Uh- she's alright!" She saw Shinji twitch at this, but carried on with her lie. "Her study visa expired a week ago, so she had to go back to Germany. She really wanted to say goodbye, but she didn't want to see you crying over her. It would have hurt her too much."

Hikari turned blankly to her. "Are you sure she said that? That doesn't sound like Asuka at all."

Sonya cringed, thinking quickly of what else to say. "Uh, she also said that…" she quickly scanned the room for something to say, then noticed something from the corner of her brightening eyes. "She also said that she didn't want to see these… three _stooges_. It would spoil her trip home."

This earned her an assured smile from Hikari. "That's our Asuka alright…"

"Yeah," Touji added, rubbing the throbbing at the back of his head, "good riddance…" He was immediately met by a cold glance and piercing from girl to her side, immediately prompting him to silence.

"So," Hikari stood up, bowing deeply. "I'm very pleased to meet you… Sonya Langley Soryu."

"Yeah!" Kensuke added, "nice to meet you."

"Uh, hey Sonya!" Shinji cut in, "I was wondering if you've met Rei?"

"Rei?" Sonya paused for a second before remembering. "Ah! You mean that creepy blue haired girl at HQ!"

"R-right," sighed Shinji.

Sonya tilted her head onto her should as she looked for ways to describe her. "She's alright, I guess... Why? _Do you like her?"_

Shinji nearly fell off his seat at this, his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He could feel his cheeks blushing brightly. "Th- THAT'S NOT LIKE IT AT ALL! I WAS JUST-"

"C'mon! Shin Man!" Kensuke drawled shrewdly. "You've got the hots for her don't you?"

"Her silky things," Touji added.

"Her crimson eyes," Sonya chimed in.

"Her," everyone began, "naughty bits."

Blood threatened to shoot out Shinji's nose as his face turned from blushing to fuming in the space of a breath. Angrily, he pushed himself up from the seat and walked out of the cafeteria.

As the boy's shadow disappeared, Sonya couldn't help but feel guilty. Hikari saw this from the corner of her eyes. "Hey Sonya…"

"Yeah?" she groaned languidly.

"You know… Shinji doesn't really like Rei."

"_I know that_," Sonya hissed. "I was only joking with him."

"No, I meant that, Shinji liked someone else." Hikari watched as Sonya's gaze lifted eagerly to meet hers. She smiled at this. "I'm not 100% sure, but I think there was something between Shinji… and Asuka…"

"You mean Shinji, and my sister?" she breathed. After a moment of shock, Sonya threw her head back, laughing to herself. "You've got to be kidding. There's no way those two could have ever gotten along. They're way too different for it to work out." Strangely enough, Hikari fell silent at this, sending a cold chill down Sonya's spine. _Is this girl telling the truth? Shinji did say that he kissed Asuka… _

_or more accurately..._

_Asuka kissed him. _

_Just what did Asuka see in this boy?_

_Just what do I see in this boy?_

_I feel sick…_

* * *

To be continued 

Next Episode

Chapter 3: Bloodbath

Just when Shinji was getting used to the concept of peace, a new threat strikes at the very heart of Tokyo-3. Once again, the Evangelions are called into action, but are they enough to stop this new juggernaut who controls the very nature of light. How can they stop something that they can't see?

When all else fails, Sonya is called into action in a last ditch attempt to defeat the angel, but is she ready to pilot an Evangelion? What is the cost of victory?

* * *

Author's notes 

Firstly, about the hematohidrosis thing... Misato is not stupid. I believe that she is only playing dumb when in fact she would go to great lengths to take care of the children. She would probably have taken several things into consideration before taking Sonya in.

I am close to finishing the next chapter, and boy, I've got something to shock you guys. All I can say is that you will not see it coming (and if you can… SHADAP SMARTASS!!!)


	3. Chapter 3

**

* * *

**

Blood Ties  
**Chapter 3: Blood Bath**

by _crimsonwraith  
_Version 1: 20/06/04

* * *

Explosions concussed all around the cockpit, flooding her entry plug with much confusion. Sonya tried to focus on the woman barking orders at her from her Heads-Up-Display, but how can she listen when there was so much going on around her? At this point, she thought, her only priority was survival.

"Ritsuko!" she screamed into her comm, "I'm pulling out!"

"What?" the woman sputtered on the other end, "don't even think about hi-tailing it, Sonya! Not after everything Shinji and Rei did for you!"

Sonya bit her lip at this. "If you haven't noticed, there's no way I can fight this thing!"

From her peripheral vision, Sonya noticed Ritsuko wince painfully. "Fine! Take the third street to your right. It will lead you down to the 24th shaft."

"Thanks!" Sonya replied with a nod. The woman on her HUD quickly disappeared as an explosion boomed beside her, sending the massive humanoid crashing into the concrete streets below, crushing dozens of cars that lined the pavement. Inside, Sonya shook her head, desperate to drive away the dizziness from her mind, but it was no good. As her eyes began to clear, she noticed that it was already too late. The enemy was already upon her.

_Damn it!_ she hissed to herself as her HUD came under the bending shadows of the enormous angel. Again, the light began to grow: this time, it would be the last time that she sees it. Cursing herself a final time, her mind raced back in time, trying to figure out just what went wrong…

* * *

Previous 24 hours

* * *

Shinji was roused by the unusual aroma floundering through the early morning air. It couldn't have been Misato, he thought. For one, she would still be asleep until the early hours of midday, and next, she could only dream of cooking something that smelled this nice. Which begs the question, who is cooking?

Levering himself off the warmth of his bed, Shinji quickly strode out his room, wincing as the bright light suddenly filled his vision once he opened the bedroom door. Who could possibly be up this early in the morning? Suddenly, the aroma hit him. Pork, he thought, who would eat pork this early in the day? The sound of spattering oil grew louder as he paced down the corridor, his curiosity growing with each step. Then, as he stopped just in front of the kitchen, all doubt was cleared.

It was odd, finding the redhead wearing an apron, pacing around the kitchen sink, washing a basin full of dirty dishes. His drowsy eyes then turned to the table. The plates were all set up lined with silver cutlery, glasses were filled with orange juice, and in the middle, were three large plates filled with bacon, eggs and pancakes. He's heard of the American breakfast before, but having one set up for him was something completely different.

_Well, I guess it's better than toast for breakfast…_

Back inside the kitchen, the drumming of water suddenly stopped just as Sonya dried her hands off with her apron before untying it and folding it neatly onto her arms. Lifting her head up, she paused, finding Shinji staring back at her with an equally puzzled gaze.

"Uh, sorry!" Sonya laughed.

Shinji raised an eyebrow at this. "Sorry?" he echoed. "What for?"

Sonya blushed, her eyes falling to the floor as she wringed her folded apron in her hands. "I know that you had homework to do, but then I thought it would have been rude to wake you up."

"Sonya," gasped Shinji stepping closer to study the girl's changing expression. "Are you alright?"

"Of course!" she quickly replied, though a little bit nervously. "You're always the one cooking and cleaning around here, so I thought it would have been nice to… you know… pull my weight around the house."

"That's alright," Shinji replied with a growing smile. "You don't have to cook or clean if you don't want to. Misato never did,"

"And thank god for that," Sonya chimed in.

Shinji managed a quick chuckle before continuing. "And I never asked Asuka to help cooking or cleaning either."

Shinji expected that the girl would laugh at this as she did when he teased Misato, but her reaction was less than optimistic. Instead, she froze, staring blankly at him. Then her gaze gradually hardened, her open palms balling into fists. Her lips moved, but her words came too softly to be heard.

"Sonya…" he whispered, approaching her cautiously. "Are you alright."

Again her mouth moved. "I'm not like her…" All of a sudden, her eyes shot up, burning with a menacingly ominous beryl light, striking fear into the very heart of the boy. "I'M NOT ASUKA! **I'M _NOTHING_ LIKE ASUKA! _NOTHING!!!_**"

Before he could think, the boy managed to duck just in time to avoid to see the girl's fist swing at the empty air just above his head. Then his instincts took over, quickly grabbing the girl's fist before she could lash out at him again, then tripped her onto the floor and pinned her to the floorboards.

Sonya was surprisingly strong: it took all his strength just to hold her down, and even then it wasn't easy. For a moment, Sonya was no longer the sweet girl that he knew, but a girl possessed by a demon. Not even Asuka frightened him so.

Suddenly, rushed footsteps dashed across the corridor, stopping just behind him. Misato's eyes widened as she saw the boy struggling with the girl thrashing all over the kitchen floor. "Shinji!" she called out, dashing back into the hallway, "hold her down just a little longer."

"Hurry up Misato!" Shinji screamed back. Before he could finish, he was suddenly flung into the air, crashing into a set of cupboards some five meters away. As he painfully cracked his eyes open, he noticed the figure rise before him, her jaded eyes glowering at him, her mouth salivating with madness. Starting to sweat bullets, Shinji stole another quick glimpse at the hallway only to find it empty. "MISATO! HURRY!"

His screams prompted the possessed girl to lunge at him, her claws wrapping around his neck, threatening not to choke him, but to completely snap it off like a twig. Shinji could hear his spine straining just as his vision began to fade, and then he noticed another outline in his view.

It was Misato. She was holding something silver in her hand, a syringe. Quickly, the woman stabbed the needle into Sonya's back and squeezed, the opaque liquid disappearing into her veins. All of a sudden, her grip loosened around Shinji's neck, allowing him to swallow several mouthfuls of air. Just as her hands fell limply to her sides, Sonya managed a grieved look at Shinji on final time before her head fell lifelessly onto the ground.

"Wh- wha," he stammered, gasping to catch his breath. "What the hell was that?"

Misato shot him a quick, expressionless look as she moved two fingers over the girl's neck, finding a steady, if not slowed pulse. "Stupid, _stupid_!"

"I- I'm sorry, Misato, I didn't know that-"

The woman shook her head in frustration, immediately cutting the boy off. "Not you, Shinji. Me! I couldn't believe that I trusted Ritsuko… after all that she did. How _stupid_!!!"

"Ritsuko?" he gasped breathlessly, "what do you mean? What does she have to do with Sonya? What's going on Misato?"

She ignored his pleas, instead pushing herself off the floor and reached for the cordless unit, dialling an auto-call number. "This is Misato. We need contamination here right now! Not in five minutes, I want it here NOW!!!" she screamed, before ending the conversation by slamming the unit into the base. Stopping to breathe, she turned a weary look towards the boy. "Sonya suffered mental contamination yesterday as a result of lowering her neural connect limiter."

Shinji's eyes fell at this to gaze into her flowing auburn locks, running his fingers through her hair. "She's going to be alright, isn't she?" Misato kept still, neither nodding nor shaking her head, sending a cold chill down Shinji's spine. Again she turned back to Sonya. With her eyes closed, she almost reminded him of Asuka. But then her words began to ring in her head.

_I'M NOTHING LIKE ASUKA! NOTHING!!!_

"She's strong," Misato whispered reassuringly. Standing up, her eyes glazed over the food that the girl had prepared for breakfast. Misato smiled at this. "At least we know where she gets her strength." All of a sudden, her phone began to ring once more. Frustrated, Misato picked up the phone, growling at the person on the other end. "I told you to that we need you here now-"

"Misato," Fuyutski's voice cut in. Misato suddenly froze, realizing her mistake, but Fuyutski had more important things to do than reprimand the stubborn woman. "Major Katsuragi, we required your presence at headquarters immediately."

"But…" Misato stammered, now careful to watch her words. "But, sir, why?"

"Because," Fuyutski began with a sinister tone, "the angels are back."

* * *

_Strange_, Rei thought, pacing down the empty corridors with her footsteps the only thing to be heard. Or at least, she was until the sirens broke through the stillness and the crimson flood lights cut in. Something was going on.

Something was happening. Listening to the voice echoing behind her head, Rei began to pace towards the Command Centre when another sound began to permeate the hallways. It sounded like a distant thunder, yet strangely enough, it seemed familiar to her. Suddenly, her curiosity was sated as a roller bed rushed by, occupied by a familiar red head.

"Sonya…" Rei whispered.

A hand fell upon her shoulder. As she turned, Rei found a large man dressed in black behind her. "Pilot Ayanami," he started in a deep yet indistinct voice, "I am here to escort you to Unit 00 at cage three."

"No," Rei started, turning away, but stopped as the man's grip tightened around her shoulder.

"I am ordered to escort you to Cage Three. Whether you come voluntarily or not is up to you."

For a second, the agent smirked as the only thing Rei could do was stare at him. And then the girl's eyes flashed crimson. Suddenly a huge amount of pain was built up around his arm. His eyes froze as it fell upon his arm, crushed across the elbow as if it was caught in a vice. But it didn't stop there.

Now the pressure had come to his head. He opened his mouth to scream, but it was too late. The only sound to escape his throat was the sickening squelch of blood and sinew spattered across the steel walls.

Rei lingered at this for a moment longer before turning back to where the bed had been only moments before.

"Sonya…" she whispered, "sister…"

* * *

Ritsuko peered over the edge of the massive travelator, imagining what it would be like to hurl a certain clone over the edge. A smile came across her face as she visualized Rei falling helplessly into the void. _If only I could_, she mused to herself, then looked back over her shoulder with Misato glowering at her.

"What's with the face?" she slurred. Misato didn't reply. If anything, her spiteful gaze hardened. Ritsuko couldn't help but feel guilty. "Look, Misato, I had to do what I had to do."

"Shut up!" barked Misato. "Just shut up! I should have never listened to you in the first place, at least she would still be alright."

"Alright?" Ritsuko shot back with an edge in her voice. "If you didn't let her do it, her morale would have suffered seriously."

"Better she lose her morale than her whole fucking sanity!" countered Misato. This earned the major a spiteful gaze from the doctor, leaving an awkward silence to linger between the two as they waited for the shifting stairs slowly lead them to their destination.

Apologising was the last thing on Misato's mind, after watching just what Ritsuko had done to Sonya, but she couldn't help but feel guilty. Then she remembered just why as a familiar face came to her mind, not of Sonya, but Asuka. She remembered how she pleaded to pilot one last time. Looking back, Misato wondered just how differently things would have turned out if she said no, if she had not allowed Ritsuko to rule just what she should do.

Maybe Asuka would still be alive.

* * *

Shinji had sworn never to sit here again; it still reeked of blood.

_Kaworu's blood_.

But now was not the time to back out.

Rei depended on him.

Sonya depended on him.

They all did.

Unit 00 had barely been restored, which meant that her chance of survival was unlikely. As for Sonya… she was in no condition to fight, not when she was struggling with ghosts of her own. It was all up to him, just as it had always been.

As the colours flashed across the heavy liquid, a frame came across his HUD. It was Misato. This brought a smile across his face. "Hey Misato, is Sonya alright?"

Misato managed an awkward grin. "Y-yeah," she stammered, her voice less than convincing. "They told me that they've stabilised her condition, but they're not sure how long it will take to for her to recover, so I don't think she'll be able to help you for now."

"That's alright," Shinji sighed. "So, what are we up against?"

"We're not sure," she replied. As her screen faded, Shinji's HUD was suddenly filled with a large image of vast rolling mountains, dotted by houses and trees. There was nothing on the screen that warranted the Level 1 Alert Status; there were no Angels. This was the source of both relief and anxiety for the boy.

Then Ritsuko's image flashed across his screen. "How are you doing, Shinji?" she said, trying to mask her uncaring voice. "Here is what we're gathered on the new Angel."

_Nothing as usual,_ he moaned to himself, awaiting for Ritsuko's minimal explanation.

The cockpit then darkened as Ritsuko began briefing him. "This is the angel as viewed under visible light."

"Where?" Shinji replied, scanning his HUD , but finding nothing.

"In the middle of your HUD, right on the targeting reticule." Ritsuko knew that there was no point dwelling on it this way, switching the view mode. Shinji's mouth dropped almost at once. The figure was enormous, even humanoid. "This is the angel in ultra violet light. We believe that the angel is able to cover itself by bending various types of light around it. We scanned it using visible light and infra-red, but it was completely invisible in both respects. This poses a problem for you to both locate and destroy the angel, let alone to identify its abilities of attack and defence."

"Then how are we supposed to fight it!" screamed Shinji, banging his fist into his controls. Despite this, Ritsuko could only sigh before her screen faded, with Shinji's HUD returning to the hangar. "Damn it, Ritsuko! Don't do this to us! Don't leave us in the dark!"

* * *

Rei wasn't sure, but siting, hidden from view in a sniper's perch, it almost felt familiar, almost like déjà vu. But she ignored this, focusing on the task at hand, narrowing her eyes as she focused her crosshairs to open fields, not knowing whether the enemy was there or not. After a long while, she lifted her finger away from the trigger and pulled herself up from her seat.

_Why do we fight?_

A screen then flashed across her HUD, a boy's face coming up on the screen. "Hey, Rei…" Shinji stammered, clearly not comfortable with speaking to her. "I was just wanted to talk to you…"

"…"

"I know you don't talk much, but…"

"…"

"I want to ask you something."

"Now is not the time, pilot Ikari," Rei murmured, "we will discuss this after we are debriefed."

Shinji's eyes quickly intensified. "That's what I want to talk to you about…"

At this, Rei paused, clearly intrigued at the boy's desperation. "Speak quickly, Third Child."

"Thank you." He paused, clearing his mind before proceeding. "I know the truth about you, Rei. I know what happened to you the last time you fought an angel, I saw it with my own eyes. And I also saw Asuka suffer. I saw her die, not in the entry plug, but because she fought. I… I watched as my Unit 01 tear Touji apart… and I watched as I crushed Kaworu in my hands."

Rei's eyes slowly fell to her hands, feeling the slight cramp of guilt in her chest. "We have given our lives for others. That is why we exist."

"To die?" challenged Shinji.

Rei nodded in confirmation. "What greater honour is there than to give your life for the ones you love?" Her words found home in Shinji's heart, cutting him deeply and Rei saw this. The feeling of guilt in her chest grew heavier to the point of almost unbearable. Suddenly, Rei sensed something else. _She's here. _"Ikari, we will finish this discussion later."

"But-"

"I have one thing to say to you, pilot Ikari…"

"…"

"I will protect you with my life." She watched as Shinji's mouth open to reply, but before he could, Rei switched her screen off. She had let her voice echo in her mind for another heartbeat before narrowing her eyes squinting spitefully at the open fields. "Come," she whispered, wrapping her hand around controls, her index finger hovering just above the trigger, "come and meet your doom."

* * *

"Shinji," Ritsuko's voice reverberated in his entry plug. "We have uploaded the com sat data that you need to locate the angel. Just look at the bottom left screen for updates. And good luck, Shinji."

Her screen faded, leaving a less than reassured boy eyeing the large image looming at the bottom left corner of his HUD. Unit 00 was a fair distance behind him, leaving him to face the Angel on his own. NERV was never any good at strategies, and many young lives have paid for it. Ritsuko was on of them who treated pilots like cannon fodder, and as much as Shinji hated to admit it, Misato was another. They rarely ever had a plan of attack, and when they did, things often went wrong.

All of a sudden, the image on the bottom right screen faded from sight, causing anarchy inside the plug.

"Where is it?" Shinji yelped nervously. "Misato, Ritsuko, I can't see it! I can't see it!"

"Shinji, Rei!" Misato's voice screamed, "Abort! I repeat, abort the operation at once!"

Shinji jammed his stick back, hoping to pull out before anything could happen to him. He was hoping for too much as he found out a bright light glowing from behind him, and then it was too late.

"Ikari, Ikari!" Rei screamed out into her comm. All she saw was the purple unit crumple to its feet, falling flat into the dirt, unmoving. First, shock overcame her, numbing all her senses. Then anger settled in, thrusting her control stick forward, her juggernaut leaping forward to rescue her fallen comrade.

"Ayanami!" Misato's voice pleaded over her speakers, "get out of there! That is an order!"

"No!"

"What was that?" Misato stammered at the suddenness of her defiance. "You can't help Shinji now! You have to pull back!"

"NO!" she screamed, before locking the woman out, leaving her to herself. Her eyes quickly narrowed, noticing a bright light intensifying a short distance to her left. She quickly jammed her control stick to her front. Outside, Unit 00 leapt forward, out of the way of a massive white beam which streaked through the air, slamming into the distant hills, burning the earth near the point of impact. Rei quickly rolled her unit to its knees, bringing the brunt of her sniper rifle aimed at the source and squeezed the trigger thrice. The muzzle boomed loudly, sending three concussive shells darting out at its invisible target, finding nothing but empty air.

Frustrated, Rei dropped her rifle, pulling out her pistol from her holster and squeezed the trigger in all directions. All twenty bullets found empty air. Suddenly, Rei noticed a bright light began to glow from behind, but now it was too late to move, let alone scream.

* * *

"Unit 00 has gone silent!" Maya screamed across the room. It was unnecessary as all watched the screen flicker with static, leaving a haunting sense of futility in the minds of all who witnessed it. None more so than with Misato. Her eyes remained fixed upon the screen long after the static faded, leaving nothing but a blank upon the massive screen.

"Shinji… Rei…" she gasped, her eyes trembling, "what's their status?"

Maya shook her head. "Their status cannot be confirmed."

"Expect the worse," Ritsuko began, causing Misato to turn a spiteful gaze in her direction. "Expect the worse and hope for the best. That is all we can do until the threat passes."

"No!" she protested. "Send out rescue squads and retrieve the entry plugs."  
"They weren't launched."

"We'll force eject them."

Ritsuko motioned a hand across her lips, prompting Misato to silence. "Listen to yourself, Misato. You're not being rational. If the pilots are still alive, we can't just go out there and attempt a rescue! If you haven't forgotten, we've got a Angel to deal with. The best place for those two right now is inside the Evas."

"We can't just leave them there!" Misato retorted.

"Leave who?"

The small voice belonged to neither woman. Slowly, they turned around, finding a young girl draped in hospital garbs standing before the opening to the command platform. On her breast pocket was a label.

_ Sonya Langley Soryu_

_ The Second Child_

Stepping closer, she stopped to study Misato's blank expression. "What's going on Misato? Where's Shinji and Rei?"

"They're in-" Misato paused, thinking just what she really meant. If she said that they were outside, Sonya would have to go and fight the angel, but if she said no, then she will learn about it from someone else, thus she loses her trust. But it was better that she lost her trust than her life. At least then, she stands a change for survival. "Shinji and Rei are-"

"They're trapped, Sonya," Ritsuko interrupted. The elder woman's lips curled slightly as she found the girl shirking backwards in disbelief. "They're still out there, trapped in their own entry pods with their internal batteries running critically low. In another ten minutes, life support would die out, suffocating both pilots."

"No…" Sonya gasped, taking another tentative step backwards, "no…"

Ritsuko clearly relished the sight of the girl trembling before her. "They are there suffering, Sonya, because of _you_."

"No!" shrieked the girl, shaking her head in weak protest. Tears began to flow freely down her pale cheeks, her lips trembling. "NO!" With this, the girl turned spun around, running out the door, leaving only her cries to echo in the command platform.

The smile on Ritsuko's lips disappeared as Misato wiped it clean off her face with her fist. The doctor fell back, sliding across the cold steel floor, stoping only as her back hit the wall. Blood seeped through the corner of her lips. Clutching the side of her cheek, the doctor turned a fierce look over to Misato. "Just what the hell was that for?"

Misato turned her back to Ritsuko, grunting indignantly to answer her. "Ritsuko… you're despicable."

"I didn't see you stop me, Misato!"

"I never want to see you again," Misato hissed, stepping out the door, "_old friend_." With this, Misato stepped out the door, leaving Ritsuko with a throbbing cheek and a culpable sensation to reside in her gut long after her words disappeared into the cold air.

* * *

"It's all my fault… it's all _my _fault!"

Sonya repeated her endless mantra of self loathing in the confines of her entry plug. A picture of the boy's smile came to her mind. It was gentle, warm, haunting. Then an image of a blue haired girl came to join him, her crimson eyes alluring. They were both looking at her, as if depending on her.

_It's my fault that Shinji and Rei are hurt, _she cursed to herself, wiping her teary eyes as she gripped her controls with renewed vigour. "I'm not going to let you down! I'm not going to let anybody down _anymore_!" With this, she turned a resolute gaze to her screen and tugged her controls. "Evangelion Unit 02! LAUNCH!!!"

All of a sudden, she felt her entire body pressed down into her seat as the Evangelion was rushed up to the surface. Despite this, Sonya kept her eyes focused on her screen, gritting her teeth painfully under so much pressure. _Hold on, Rei, Shinji. Just hold on a little longer._

* * *

"Alright," Ritsuko voice echoed inside Sonya's entry plug. "You will engage the target inside the city. The building will limit its ability to attack you from all sides, it will be forced to attack you from straight ahead or from behind."

Sonya could only grimace at the explanation. "It also means that I've got no escape if that thing decides to shoot at me."

The image of the blonde woman sighed on her screen, nodding a sigh of surrender. "That's also true, Sonya. Which means that you have to defeat it with your first attack." Suddenly, two buildings rolled up on either side her screens, exposing two massive palette rifles. "Take the rifles and destroy the target as soon as you neutralize its AT-Field."

"But…" Sonya moaned, "_where _is the enemy?"

She heard no reply come from the doctor. Instead, the screen disappeared, leaving Sonya to herself with a dilemma residing in her mind. "How can I fight something I cannot see?" Suddenly, a thought hit her. "Display all noise from all sectors." _Just because I can't see you, doesn't mean that I can't hear you._ Suddenly, a map scrolled across her screen. In the middle was a dot, labelled Unit 02; her Evangelion had to be making some kind of noise to be detected even when standing still. The whole map was littered with red, there was too much noise going on, even in the dead of silence.

But then she noticed something; a trail of red moving from the northern sector to her position. This invoked a smirk across Sonya's lips. "I see you…"

Outside, the Evangelion grabbed the two rifles, tucking each weapon beneath its arms and began to run through the maze like streets, careful as if not to make a sound. Sonya knew that this was useless, having a 100 meter tall weapon creeping around, but at least it would be better than declaring to her enemy just where she was. It had already made this mistake, and now she would take full advantage of this fatal error.

The red unit quickly approached a final street, planting its massive hide behind the cover of a massive sky scraper. "Come on, you bastard…" Sonya whispered, eyeing the moving trail of red on her screen. "Just a little more… NOW!" Jamming her control to the left, she led her Evangelion out into the street finding nothing but buildings before her. However, she knew that looks were deceiving, curling her lips wryly.

"Gotcha!"

Without warning, the two rifles came to life with brilliant flashes of white and deafening staccatos of concussive barrages. She watched as the tracer rounds sailed across the air, it's opponent trapped by the narrow streets, exploding as it found home.

After another second of automatic fire, Sonya relaxed her trigger finger as she let out a sigh of relief. "That was easier than I thought…"

Suddenly, Ritsuko's face flashed across her screen. "You idiot!" she screamed. "You haven't neutralized it's AT Field!"

"I haven't _what?_" Sonya shot back. Her eyes quickly darted back to the pile of smoke in the distance, only to find yellow hexagons hovering in the air.

All of a sudden, the air in front of Sonya began to glow. Even if she couldn't see just what was happening, she was certain of one thing. _This can't be good._ There was no escape behind her, certainly none in front of her. Then a thought sprang to mind. All of a sudden, she brought the barrels of her twin rifles to bear at the buildings to her side and squeezed the trigger. Explosions concussed all around the cockpit. Sonya ignored the woman barking orders at her from her screen as she threw herself into the weakened block of buildings dodging just in time to watch a massive beam streak through the air where she was just a heartbeat ago. Crashing into an adjacent street, she turned to her screen with a blank look. _Damn it! What do I do now? _Her mind cried out for her to fight on, but she also knew that this was futile. At this point, she thought, her only priority was survival.

"Ritsuko!" she screamed into her comm, "I'm pulling out!"

"What?" the woman sputtered on the other end, "don't even think about hi-tailing it, Sonya! Not after everything Shinji and Rei did for you!"

Sonya bit her lip at this. "If you haven't noticed, there's no way I can fight this thing!"

From her peripheral vision, Sonya noticed Ritsuko wince painfully. "Fine! Take the third street to your right. It will lead you down to the 24th shaft."

"Thanks!" Sonya replied with a nod. The woman on her HUD quickly disappeared as an explosion boomed beside her, sending the massive humanoid crashing into the concrete streets below, crushing dozens of cars that lined the pavement. Inside, Sonya shook her head, desperate to drive away the dizziness from his mind, but it was no good. As her eyes began to clear, she noticed that it was already too late. The enemy was already upon her.

_Damn it!_ she hissed to herself as her HUD came under the bending shadows of the enormous angel. Again, the light began to grow: this time, it would be the last time that she sees it. Cursing herself a final time.

That's when she heard the pulsing in her head.

_I won't give up!_

"What?"

_Never give up!_

"Who is this?"

_I won't let you give up…_

"Who is this?"

… s_ister…_

* * *

Ritsuko winced painfully, closing her eyes, unable to watch the girl die because of her. But there was no use hiding. A deafening explosion sounded from all around her, signalling the girl's final demise. Or so she thought.

"She dodged the beam!" Maya joyously rang out.

Ritsuko's eyes shot open in disbelief. "But- but that's impossible!" And yet she could see that Maya was right as the building behind the red demon was shredded to its foundation, but not the demon itself. Demon was the right word as all four eyes glowed an ominous crimson.

"Doctor!" Maya screamed desperately. "Please! Get over here quickly!"

"What's wrong!" said Ritsuko as she ran over the technician's side. Her mouth fell as her eyes studied the graphs on her console. "It- it can't be!"

Maya mirrored the woman's reaction, gasping to herself. "Her synch ratio… it's over 100%!"

"That's impossible! There's no way Sonya could have done that!"

Above them, Gendo watched on, his head resting on interlocked fingers, hiding a growing smirk. "Finally… you have come back to us…"

* * *

The red behemoth sprung high into the air just in time to see the gravel where it stood turn to slag by the massive beam, before turning its guns down to its target. Its four eyes flashed ominously as it pulled the triggers, raining upon its target a hail of concussive shells. The first few rounds found home in a white octagonal shield but was then torn to shreds as the behemoth came crashing thorough, landing on the invisible beast and planting one of the rifle's barrels of its gun into its invisible hide. The gun exploded with a huge fireball, enveloping the half the city block, charring everything, revealing what was hidden before.

Trails of violet fluid oozed across the beasts' arm as it ambled down away from the demon, still clutching one rifle in one hand. Unit 02's eye began to glow as it charged another beam, but the scarlet gargantuan didn't let it, charging down the streets, thrusting the remaining gun forward…

… straight into the Angel's crimson core. The glowing from its eyes died immediately, but the scarlet demon's hunger for blood was yet to be sated. Unit 02's eyes glowed a final time as it squeezed the trigger, sending volleys upon volleys of explosive shells tearing through the insides of the angel.

Then silence.

The angel slipped from the barrel's tip, collapsing onto the concrete with a large thud. Where its chest should have been was a gaping hole, steaming with the rancid smell of cauterised flesh. Unit 02 stood over its fallen foe, for once, victorious.

* * *

His head felt dizzy, but it didn't take much thought to figure out just where he is. The ceiling was all too hauntingly familiar. He was in the hospital. Pushing himself up to sit on the hospital bed, Shinji scanned the room. There were other beds other than his, both of which were occupied. Shinji struggled to stand up to his feet, but he really wanted to see his friends. He was just glad that they were alive.

He stopped over Rei first, scanning her gentle appearance. Just watching her sleeping seemed pleasantly soothing to him, and he wondered why this was so. It was, as if he was looking after her, as a brother watches over her sister. Shinji quickly dismissed the thought as he left her side and moved over to the next bed.

There, in the far corner of the hospital room, rested the redhead. She wasn't as fragile as he first thought, having defeated the enemy both he and Rei could not. She's a good girl, he decided, and was about to return to his bed when he noticed her twitch. Slightly at first, but then she began to roll around her bed as if rousing from her sleep. Then, after a few more heartbeats, her emerald eyes open. Sitting up, the girl scans the room as if confused of her surroundings, but then froze as they fell upon Shinji's smile.

"I-," he stammered, "I'm so glad that you're alright." The girl remains silent at this, instead turning her gaze to the various wires leading into her arm. Shinji continued, trying to be more confident. "I'm not sure how you did it, but you must've been strong to have beaten that angel, Sonya."

At this, the girl stops, turning a vacant expression towards the boy. "Just what in the hell are you talking about, _dumbkopf_?"

_Dumbkopf,_ Shinji echoed in his mind. "Sonya, are you alright?"

"Stop calling me that, _Third Child!_" the girl lashed out as she tore the wires from her veins. Blood dripped from her open wound, but the girl seemed comforted at the thought of having the tubes removed from her. She then returned a fierce look towards the boy. "I've had it up to here with you, _arshloch_." She rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she turned to the heavens. "Leiber gott in himmel…"

Shinji stretched an arm out to the girl, clearly concerned for his comrade. "Sonya-"

The girl quickly shot her eyes open, slapping the boy's hand away before turning to him with a menacing scowl. "Sonya? Have you gone completely insane, Shinji? Stop calling me that or I swear to god, I'll put my foot so far up your ass, the sweat of my toes will quench your thirst."

Shinji staggered backwards, completely taken aback by the change in the girl's personality. "Then- then what do you want me to call you Sonya?"

Pulling herself together to stop herself from ripping the boy apart, the girl merely stood up, composing herself. "Just… just call me by my name, Shinji."

"… "

She let out a low growl of growing irritation. "Are you dense! It's Asuka! Asuka Langley Soryu! Now did you get that, or do you want me to spell it out for you?" Only silence answered her as the boy looked at her with a blank gaze, almost like that of disbelief. The girl froze at this, a sense of anxiety growing in her chest. "Shinji, are you alright?"

Suddenly the boy collapsed to his feet, his head slamming hard against the cold tile floor. The girl quickly dropped to her feet, desperate to aid him.

"Shinji! SHINJI!"

* * *

To be continued 


End file.
